210098 SE M6 a: The Politics of Belonging (2011W)

Deliberations and conflicts over citizenship and belonging permeate the political sphere of modern societies faced with the challenge of governing diversity—be it ethnic, religious, gender, sexual, class and otherwise—in a liberal and democratic way. In this context, the struggle to feel at home has become increasingly politicized. The capacity to mobilize feelings of belonging is of key political relevance because it is through the mobilization of belonging that boundaries are drawn, maintained or displaced. In this course, we will read and discuss texts that deal with the question of community and belonging from a more theoretical perspective. Some of the questions we will be dealing with include: What does it mean to belong to a certain community or place? How does politics contribute to creating a sense of belonging? How are borders between those who belong and those who do not belong constructed (or challenged) both by political actors and in everyday life? We will also look into examples of policy responses and forms of governance developed to manage diversity that develop both inclusive and exclusive strategies to deal with the challenges of belonging in diverse societies.